$1 million a year contract makes no sense: Clive's lawyer

Pam has been at the Daily Mercury since March 2013 and has also worked as a journalist in Batemans Bay and Wellington both in NSW. And yes, that does make her a Blues supporter. Growing up she moved around different places including Sydney, Moree, Wollongong and lived for about two years as a high school student on a small island in Micronesia called Pohnpei. Pam loves water sports, including SCUBA diving, snorkelling and kayaking but her awful balance means she’ll never touch a surf board. Ever...

FORMER Coolum Resort general manager Bill Schoch said Clive Palmer promised to pay him $5 million over five years, but Mr Palmer said this was not true.

Now it is up to a judge to determine what was said in the telephone conversation in June 2011 when Mr Palmer offered Mr Schoch a job.

Lawyers argued the final points of the case when the civil trial ended on Tuesday.

Mr Palmer's barrister Simon Couper said Mr Schoch failed to ask Mr Palmer about the millions when he signed another work contract.

In 2012 Mr Palmer offered Mr Schoch a position with Queensland Nickel - moving him from his previous role at Mineralogy - with a $150,000 pay packet.

This was a $50,000 increase from his previous salary.

Mr Couper said Mr Schoch signed the contract for this amount and did not ask about the millions.

"The obvious thing that one would do if one had an agreement of $1 million a year and the document didn't reflect it would be to speak to Mr Palmer ... and say 'Clive, this document seems to be wrong, before I sign it, don't you think we should fix up?'"

But in his closing submissions, Mr Schoch's barrister Lindsay Bowden said his client thought this contract was an administrative transfer and that the original deal should have still existed.

Mr Bowden also said it was an amazing coincidence that Mr Palmer called Mr Schoch and offered him a job the same day a newspaper article was published detailing how Mr Palmer withdrew the initial public offering for his Resourcehouse group.

During the trial Mr Bowden argued Mr Palmer wanted to employ Mr Schoch to help him make business deals.

When summing up Mr Palmer's case, Mr Couper said offering Mr Schoch $1 million a year made no sense.

Mr Couper said there was no proof to support Mr Schoch's claims that he was worth $1 million because he worked as Mr Palmer's second-in-charge.

"One would expect if he was, in some sense, the number two man he would be able to articulate things which he had done involving significant negotiation ... and advice he had given Mr Palmer," Mr Couper said.